§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to strengthen the guidelines for judges for sentencing criminals. [57414]
§ Hilary Benn[holding answer 11 June 2002]: Sentencing is a matter for the judiciary. A review of the Sentencing Framework was established by the Home Secretary on 16 May 2000 and published its proposals on 5 July 2001. The review was asked to consider what principles should guide sentencing decisions and what type of disposal should be made available to the courts so as more effectively to reduce re-offending. Public consultation ended formally on 31 October 2001.
One of the recommendations of the review is for the creation of new, codified guidelines for the use of discretion in all criminal courts, and the establishment of a new body to draft the guidelines and be responsible for monitoring their application.
The Government are considering the options for taking this recommendation forward and will set out final proposals in a White Paper due for publication shortly.
Number of violent crimes1 recorded by police force area by quarter, from January 2000 to March 2001; with 2000–01 total Police force area January 2000 to March 2000 April 2000 to June 2000 July 2000 to September 2000 October 2000 to December 2000 January 2001 to March 2001 April 2000 to2 March 2001 Avon and Somerset 4,973 4,576 4,583 5,246 4,666 19,071 Bedfordshire 1,477 1,583 1,548 1,540 1,675 6,346 Cambridgeshire 1,661 1,926 1,869 1,730 1,894 7,419 Cheshire 1,592 1,584 1,646 1,538 1,722 6,490 Cleveland 1,151 1,087 1,013 1,023 1,107 4,230 Cumbria 1,227 1,243 1,012 1,111 1,048 4,414 Derbyshire 2,690 2,936 2,627 2,572 2,401 10,536 Devon and Cornwall 3,350 3,352 3,677 3,233 3,093 13,355 Dorset 1,096 1,191 1,294 1,086 1,024 4,595 Durham 1,343 1,473 1,486 1,325 1,365 5,649 Essex3 1,853 3,303 3,152 2,918 2,859 12,232 Gloucestershire 1,239 1,418 1,440 1,463 1,388 5,709 Greater Manchester 12,278 13,650 12,964 12,511 12,799 51,924 Hampshire 4,452 4,692 4,859 5,102 4,627 19,280 Hertfordshire3 1,121 1,394 1,388 1,301 1,307 5,390 Humberside 2,430 2,567 2,812 2,829 2,582 10,790 Kent 3,473 4,172 4,028 3,765 3,131 15,096 Lancashire 2,734 2,877 3,236 3,845 3,912 13,870 Leicestershire 3,086 3,115 3,215 2,937 3,135 12,402 Lincolnshire 962 1,040 1,090 1,075 1,010 4,215 London, City of 138 150 159 162 134 605 Merseyside 4,515 4,794 4,920 4,966 4,562 19,242 Metropolitan police3 50,408 52,544 51,708 49,905 50,870 205,027 Norfolk 1,583 1,632 1,718 1,617 1,504 6,471 Northamptonshire 1,469 1,479 1,498 1,501 1,573 6,051 Northumbria 4,194 3,933 3,777 3,617 3,907 15,234 North Yorkshire 1,337 1,425 1,356 1,289 1,303 5,373 Nottinghamshire 4,491 4,622 4,297 4,362 4,560 17,841 South Yorkshire 2,338 2,360 2,514 2,646 2,557 10,077 Staffordshire 4,408 4,448 4,604 4,648 4,893 18,593 Suffolk 1,402 1,839 1,880 1,493 1,781 6,993 Surrey3 1,458 2,268 2,333 2,156 2,257 9,014 Sussex 4,550 5,112 5,461 4,391 4,541 19,505 Thames Valley 2,090 4,427 4,450 4,480 4,598 17,955 Warwickshire 646 696 687 770 965 3,118 West Mercia 2,268 2,216 2,053 1,904 2,592 8,765 West Midlands 13,673 15,303 15,669 15,513 15,812 62,297 West Yorkshire 5,426 5,582 5,611 5,571 5,572 22,336 Wiltshire 1,120 1,245 1,311 1,287 1,199 5,042 Dyfed-Powys 1,371 1,444 1,578 1,342 1,387 5,751